3GPP to M4A Converter

How to Convert 3GPP to M4A Online

1. Upload Your 3GPP File: Drag and drop or click "Add Files" to select your .3gpp file. Batch upload is supported, so multiple voicemail or recording files can be queued in one session. The page only accepts .3gpp; for .3gp files use 3GP to M4A instead.
2. Pick a Quality Preset (or Bitrate Mode): Default is Quality Preset set to "Highest". Switch to Constant Bitrate for a fixed AAC bitrate (32-384 kbps) — 64-96 kbps is the practical ceiling for AMR-sourced 3GPP files. Use Variable Bitrate for a quality-targeted range (e.g. 64-96 kbps), Custom Bitrate to type any kbps value, or Specific file size to cap the output in MB/KB.
3. Set Audio Channel, Sample Rate, and Trim (Optional): Audio Channel defaults to ORIGINAL — leave it for voice recordings (AMR is mono), or force Mono/Stereo. Audio Sample Rate defaults to ORIGINAL (8 kHz for AMR-NB, 16 kHz for AMR-WB); resample up to 22050/44100/48000 Hz if your downstream tool requires CD-rate audio. Toggle Trim and enter Start Time + Duration (HH:MM:SS.sss or seconds) to extract a specific segment.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files process in your browser session — no sign-up, no watermark, no email. Output M4A plays natively in iTunes/Apple Music, the iOS Files app, Android 2.3+, and Windows Media Player 12+.

Why Convert 3GPP to M4A?

3GPP is a multimedia container standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP TS 26.244, initial spec April 2003) for the early mobile internet — early-2000s Symbian, BlackBerry, and feature-phone cameras and voice recorders wrote .3gpp files because they were optimized for narrow GSM/UMTS bandwidth. The audio track inside is almost always AMR-NB (Adaptive Multi-Rate Narrowband, adopted by 3GPP in October 1999 — 3GPP TS 26.071) at 4.75-12.2 kbps over an 8 kHz sample rate, or AMR-WB at 6.6-23.85 kbps over 16 kHz. AMR is a speech codec, not a music codec, and Apple dropped native AMR playback at iOS 4.3 in 2011 — which is why these files refuse to play on a modern iPhone.

M4A (MPEG-4 Part 14, audio-only) wraps that audio in an AAC stream that every current OS plays without an extra codec pack:

• Voicemail and call recordings off old phones — Symbian, early Android (pre-Gingerbread), and BlackBerry voice recorders all saved .3gpp. Modern iPhones cannot play AMR; converting to AAC/M4A makes the recording playable in the iOS Files app, Voice Memos, or Apple Music sync.
• Archiving family or business audio messages — .3gpp is functional but obscure; M4A is the format iTunes/Apple Music uses for purchases, so it survives library imports and cloud sync cleanly.
• Adding to iMovie, GarageBand, or Final Cut — Apple's editors accept M4A directly but stall or silently skip 3GPP audio tracks.
• Email and messaging attachments — Gmail's 25 MB attachment cap and Slack's 1 GB free-tier file cap both accept M4A as a recognized audio type; some clients flag .3gpp as an unknown video and refuse preview.
• Forensic / legal transcription workflows — Transcription services (Otter, Rev, Descript) accept M4A out of the box but often reject .3gpp. Converting first avoids a re-encode step on their end.
• Podcast prep from old field recordings — Re-encoding the AMR voice track to AAC inside an M4A container lets you drop the clip into Audacity, Adobe Audition, or Logic without an FFmpeg side-trip.

3GPP vs M4A — Format Comparison

AAC Bitrate Guide for 3GPP-Sourced Audio

Because AMR is already a heavily compressed voice codec, you cannot recover quality by encoding the output AAC at a high bitrate — you only inflate file size. These targets are sized for the source:

Frequently Asked Questions

Why won't my iPhone play .3gpp voicemails directly?

iOS dropped native AMR codec support at iOS 4.3 (2011). The .3gpp container is still recognized but the AMR audio stream inside is not, so the Files app, Voice Memos, and Apple Music either fail to open the file or play silence. Re-encoding to AAC inside an M4A container gives you a file iOS plays natively without needing VLC or a third-party codec pack.

My 3GPP file looks like it has video — will I lose anything by converting to M4A?

If your 3GPP file is a camera video (with H.263 or MPEG-4 Visual video plus AMR audio), the M4A output discards the video track and keeps audio only. That's usually what people want when the goal is voicemail or voice-note archival. If you need to keep the picture, convert to 3GPP to MP4 instead, then extract audio separately.

Should I upsample 8 kHz AMR audio to 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz?

It doesn't add fidelity — AMR-NB has no frequency content above 4 kHz. Upsampling only matters if your downstream tool refuses sub-44.1 kHz input (some older DAWs, certain podcast hosts). For Apple Music / iTunes import, leaving Audio Sample Rate at ORIGINAL or 22050 Hz is fine and produces smaller files.

What's the difference between .3gp and .3gpp?

.3gp and .3gpp are the same MPEG-4 mobile container defined by 3GPP TS 26.244 — most decoders treat them interchangeably. By convention, .3gpp is more common on Symbian and early Nokia/Sony Ericsson devices; .3gp is more common on early Android and BlackBerry. This page accepts .3gpp; use 3GP to M4A for .3gp.

Why is the converted M4A bigger than the source 3GPP?

AMR is one of the most efficient voice codecs ever shipped — it operates at 4.75-12.2 kbps. AAC at any reasonable quality (64+ kbps) will produce a larger file. That's expected. If file size matters more than compatibility, keep the original or convert to AMR directly via 3GPP to AMR.

Can I extract just the audio if the 3GPP file has both video and audio?

Yes — this converter discards the video track and keeps the audio stream during the re-encode to AAC/M4A. You don't need a separate "extract audio" step. If you want to trim to a specific section first, toggle Trim on and set Start Time + Duration before converting.

Will this preserve the original timestamps or metadata?

The audio content and duration transfer cleanly. Container-level metadata (creation date in the mvhd atom, GPS tags if the source camcorder embedded them) is rewritten by the encoder, so timestamps may reset to the conversion time. If chain-of-custody matters (legal/forensic use), keep the original .3gpp as well.

Does the file leave my computer?

The file uploads to xconvert for encoding (FFmpeg-based) and the output is returned for download. Files are not stored long-term and are not shared. There is no account requirement, no watermark, and no email gate.

Is M4A the same as AAC?

Not exactly. AAC is the audio codec (the compression algorithm, standardized as ISO/IEC 14496-3). M4A is the MPEG-4 container that holds it (file extension and structure). An M4A file almost always contains AAC, but the spec also allows ALAC (Apple Lossless) and HE-AAC. For raw AAC without the MP4 container, use 3GPP to AAC instead.